We’ll sail up the Sognefjorden to Flåm and do some hiking around the fjords.

We are looking forward to visiting Castle Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, the seat of the MacLeod of MacLeod, chief of the Clan MacLeod. Mr. Q’s step-dad is a McLeod, so we have to see it just so that we can report back to him.

Our tour to Dunvegan also includes a whisky tasting, which should be interesting since neither of us are whiskey drinkers! But when in Rome … or in this case Scotland …

We plan to take a book lovers’ tour in Edinburgh, and maybe we’ll manage to also find the Circus Mews …

We’ve hired a private guide in Inverness to take us to Dunrobin Castle …

Can you tell that I like touring castles?

And we have the guide and her car for six full hours, so we plan to tour around and see as much as we can of the surrounding area. Perhaps we’ll run into Jaime and Claire (fingers crossed!) …

Most of all we are looking forward to having two solid weeks to chill out and not even think about things like day jobs, house work, yard work, and yes … even blog writing!

Although I was originally planning to take a blog break while on vacation, I ended up writing and scheduling a couple of blog posts to keep you mildly entertained while I am gone, but I won’t be posting from the ship. I also probably won’t find the time to respond to comments, so I’ve left my sister Debbie in charge of that. She’s under strict instructions to respond to comments and answer any questions that you might pose (if she can). By the way, my blog is set up to allow comments from anyone who has previously had a comment approved, but if you have never left a comment before your first comment will need to be approved and Debbie won’t be able to do that. So if you are new to commenting on q is for quandie, don’t think your comment got lost or is being ignored. I promise to approve you when I get back!

Debbie will also be holding down the fort at our house. She’s going to be house sitting so that our cat Lucy has some company. I’ve convinced her to mow the lawn for us while we’re gone, and hopefully she won’t let my houseplants die. But she flat out refused to paint any furniture for me, so that will have to wait until I come back too!

It’s looks so beautiful! Have an great time. My husband and I are planning a trip to Europe in 2019. We have never been out of the country so I hope you have some posts about your trip. I’m anxious to here all about it. How nice that Debbie has agreed to help you while you are gone. I’m sure she will do a great job in your absence.

Oh Linda, that sounds like a fantasy trip! Wish I could tuck myself into your suitcase, but I know you will take lots of photos and post them for us stay at homers. Then we can see all the beauty and get your perspective on the “Royal” life. The only castle I’ve seen is Buckingham Palace (unless the Biltmore house in Asheville qualifies). I know you won’t see this, but have a wonderful vacation!

I hope you have a glorious trip! But since it’s all about me 😉 please take lots of photos of those quaint towns so you can share with people who love using those backgrounds for Photoshop. Heck, just send me a thumb drive of your photos! Until your return, eat, drink and be Mary (I never knew who this Mary person is but she sure must know how to party to be memorialized this way).

Yeah, I’ve never figured out who that Mary person is either, but we definitely did some eating and drinking and hopefully I have some great photos to share among the 1,500+ pictures that I brought back with me 😉

Me thinks it must be a wonderful asset to have a travel agent in the family. Your photo selections are terribly enticing old girl. As I gaze in my crystal ball I am predicting bliss is most definitely on your itinerary. Bon
Voyage!
PS Hello Deb I am certain Lucy is thrilled to have a house mate.

Just heard from my sister that they have landed safely but are very tired. Lucky I am here at their house because they forgot to take their hotels address with. Super sister to the rescue on their first day.

We have free wifi at our hotel in Copenhagen so I’m enjoying reading all of the comments. You’re doing a great job filling in for me so far Debbie! I didn’t get any sleep at all on the plane so after a quick rest, we are heading out to explore this beautiful city!

Sister Deb to the rescue! Glad you were able to connect with her to get your vacation started! Happy that you were able to get such a reliable and helpful housesitter too. I bet that favor will be repaid as soon as you are back and Deb is getting ready to paint walls! Have a fun vacation Mike & Linda and happy housesitting AND buying Deb!

Hello Debbie! I’d hate for you to miss your golden opportunity … go out to that carriage house and pick a piece of furniture to paint! 😀 You’re in control, so you could even post on it. 😀 I bet you’d do great. What if your sister gets all of her artistic abilities from you?!! Cheers, Cynthia

I have other artistic abilities. Plus it has been raining here in Minn for the last week. The grass is getting so long. I think Linda and my small painting skills come from our paternal grandfather. He was the real painter in the family, of course artwork not furniture. But I think painting is painting. When I was younger I painted nice scenery paintings. I did a few pieces of furniture when I first moved here two years ago. They are all on the blog somewhere, We had a contest. Q bought two of the same pieces and we each painted one our own way. Mine sold first.The rest of the furniture I have painted I have kept. I have helped with sanding and such on some of Qs pieces from time to time.